Just like a quilt is pieced into blocks to make a whole quilt, so my life has pieces that make up the blocks of the whole. Come along with me to see how God uses the pieces of my life to make me into a whole person.

A Pieceful Life

Welcome

I'm so glad that you stopped by, and hope that you enjoy your visit. Here you will find pieces of my life - quilting, cross-stitch, family, travel, friends.

My name is Peg - I am a 60ish wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin, friend - and if we're not already related or friends, hope to become your friend too.

We live in the eastern end of the beautiful Fraser Valley, about 1.5 hours east of Vancouver, BC. Empty nesters, we have one son living just a few minutes away, our other son and daughter live in Alberta.

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Monday, December 22, 2014

The holidays are here, well for us at least the celebrations begin by tomorrow. Today, I’ll bake some muffins to have around for breakfasts, and finish up a couple of last minute sewing projects, do the laundry, make up the beds, and get out a jigsaw puzzle to do when the down times come – in a few days.

Tomorrow, my parents arrive and I have a birthday luncheon to attend.

Christmas Eve, our Calgary children and LV (7 months now) arrive and we’ll all be spending the afternoon and evening together with the other grandparents.

Christmas Day, brunch for 10 or 12 at 1100, skyping with a sister sometime during the day, turkey dinner for 11 at 600.

Boxing Day – well plan to do nothing but work on that jigsaw puzzle with my mother!

Dec. 27 dinner with friends at their house

Dec. 28 we’ll move my parents down the street to a friends’ house to give them some time to just relax by themselves and to make room for the other children

New Years’ Eve our High River children and LW (2 1/2 months) arrive

New Years’ Day, brunch for 8 at 1100, goose (hunted by DS-J) for dinner for 8-12 at 600

Jan 2 – my parents head home

Jan 3 – Grizz’ family will be here for our annual get-together of snacks and sweets, and their first meeting with LV and LW – probably about 14 adults, 3 babies and 4 dogs!!!!

Can hardly sleep for the excitement!

So now I’d like to wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you in 2015!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

The other day I posted about the season of giving and sharing. This morning, I read another story – it brought tears to my eyes as I thought of the generosity of this woman’s spirit, and knowing that it’s just one example of the love and kindness of many, many people in our world. Read on:

It was Dec. 9 and I was headed to downtown Halifax to do some Christmas shopping with $600 in cash that I had been putting away for this time of year.

My first stop was a clothing store on Spring Garden Road, to purchase a pair of pants I had had my eye on for the past year. The plan was to treat myself to these and get on with my Christmas shopping.

It was about 4 p.m. and the streets were busy. I parked on a side street not far from the store.

I went into the store and straight over to where the pants were located. I found my size and went to try them on. I set my keys down and noticed my wallet was not with me.

Frantically, I patted down my pockets and realized I must have dropped it somewhere. I quickly retraced my steps in the store and could not find it. I could feel myself panicking.

Under my breath, I mumbled that I lost something as I searched on the floor near another shopper. She heard me and immediately wanted to help: “OK, let’s retrace your steps. Where were you shopping in the store, and what cubbies did you look in?”

I told her there was $600 in the wallet. It was like we were on a mission, but after a long search, we found no sign of my wallet anywhere. I then retraced my steps back to my truck and back to the store. Again, no wallet.

When I returned to the store, the two of us continued to look in the same places and it was at that moment I knew I had to walk away. I introduced myself to the lady and said, “Thank you so much.” I was so appreciative of her help and concern.

I left the store. I was so disappointed but still thought there might a slight chance of finding it. After slowly retracing my steps a few more times to the truck and back, I decided it was time to leave.

As I was about to head home, my phone rang. It was a police officer. He told me he had found my wallet. And of course I asked the question about the contents. And of course the answer was no, there was no money found in the wallet. He told me to meet him in front of the store I was shopping in and we would have a quick chat about the incident.

The lady who had been helping me happened to be walking out, and I told her that the wallet was found but that there was no money in it. She waited with me until the police officer arrived and I said thanks again; at least we now knew what had happened.

I got home that evening and told my family what had happened. After feeling a range of emotions, I concluded that after all, it was only money; it could have been a lot worse. I also told everyone about the sweet lady who had helped me out. She was so kind and so genuinely wanted to help, and I honestly felt she was my best friend in that moment. I was very grateful she had been there.

So that was that — until I received a phone call from the store the very next day. They asked if I could come down. I asked why and they said a card had been dropped off there for me. Surprised, I asked “Was it from that lady who was helping me look for my wallet last night?” And they replied yes. I thought, wow, that’s so nice of her. I couldn’t make it there that day but the phone call alone put a smile on my face.

The next night after work, I drove downtown. After picking up the card I went back to my truck to open it. My eyes filled with tears. It contained $600 cash and this note:

Dear Anne Marie,

I wanted to write you to say that I have not stopped thinking about you since yesterday evening. Sometimes you meet someone and encounter a situation where you feel you just have to act. When you lost your wallet I felt simply heartbroken for you and where I am always so busy and focused I felt instantly that I needed to stop and help you. I went home and I told my husband and children about you and we all agreed that this was one of those moments in life where we wanted to do something. One day you will pay it forward to someone who needs your help, and that will keep the good going. Go and do your Christmas shopping and make it an extra special holiday.

Much love,

Anonymous

I was speechless.

I really want to share this story with everyone. Her thoughtfulness brought so much happiness to me and to the people around me. I learned so much about how an act of kindness can affect you. The values and qualities this lady exemplified through her actions and her family’s are ones I wish to emulate. Going forward, every Christmas will be a reminder to me that the spirit of the season is alive and well. Some people do act with goodwill and kindness with no expectation of acknowledgment or reward other than leaving a footprint in the sand. Someday I will have the opportunity to pay it forward, and I look forward to that day.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Yesterday we went to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, and enjoy the entertainment.

(not my pics, sorry, forgot to take my camera)

But the Holiday Train is not just about entertaining – this 16-year-old tradition is a way to raise funds and gather food items for local food banks all across our country.

The train starts in Montreal and lands in Vancouver, stopping several times a day at communities across the country, where the local Community Services volunteers then set up collection points. Of approximately 2500 residents in our little community, at least 500 of them gathered together yesterday to hear Jim Cuddy and Tracey Brown, and give for those less fortunate.

We were told that each dollar cash donation relates to five dollars worth of food – and CP Rail gave our town $7000.00. With that plus the donations from last night plus the collections of our local firefighters last week and what ever else they collect, the coffers are full and should be full for a little while at least.

Other communities have different food drives at this time of year, like Cram the Cruiser – where local RCMP set up their vehicles at a collection point and folks can drop off their donations. My little niece in Houston BC got behind this one and collected earnings from her craft sales to buy food to donate

Yes, food is needed year-round, but in the spirit of giving, now is a good time to remember to share our wealth, so that those in need will have enough.

Monday, December 8, 2014

We finished the bedrooms! Painted and new floors, fresh and clean and tidy, even found things we hadn’t seen in a long time, and managed to ‘recycle’ fairly effectively.

While doing the spare room, we had things piled up in our bedroom. Then while working on our bedroom, we slept in the spare room, piling stuff up in the family room and dining room. It was a mess! But well worth it. I’m sorry I forgot to take ‘before’ pictures, but here’s the result:

Still a little work to do with curtains and some shelving, but essentially complete.

When we got to putting the master bedroom back together again, we of course were moving things like lamps and alarm clock. Unplugging the alarm clock meant that the display went blank, but the battery would keep the ‘clock’ running until it was plugged in again. Except that, when we plugged in the clock, there was no display. Oh, brother, we wondered what could have happened in the 30 feet between bedroom plugs. Then we discovered that that particular plug wasn’t working at all. Okay, so take the cover off and see if we can discover any immediate concerns, like paint on the connection or something. Nothing to be seen. So we started checking a couple of other plugs. ALL the plugs, both rooms were dead. So out to the breaker box to see if there’s any apparent problems. The ARC fault (not really sure what that means) was blown, wouldn’t reset. We tried everything we knew to do, and were at the point of deciding we needed to find an electrician – really too bad our DSIL-J is so far away! One last attempt – unplug everything from all the plugs and see if we can reset the breaker.

It worked! The breaker reset, we plugged in one appliance at a time, testing each as we plugged them in, all is good! So we now have TV, digital box, internet modem, computer, printer, bedside lamps, alarm clock all working again. Amazing to us that whatever caused that breaker to turn off, it only affected the plugs in those rooms. The light switches all still worked throughout.

Electricity not being something that Grizz likes to play with, we were a little nervous, but all is well in the end. And we have nice bright bedrooms once again with lovely laminate flooring.